new mercies for a new day

Don’t Look! It’s Hideous!

No, not this kid. This kid is adorable! Who doesn’t think a toddler in an Elmo costume is the cutest thing on the planet??

Happy Halloween, y’all! Some things on Halloween are fun to look at, but there are some things that are difficult to look at. Some things you actually have to turn away from because they are so hard to look at.

Theological crossing point here: God can’t look at sin. God cannot be a part of the nastiness of sin in our lives.

God’s hatred of sin is exactly why he calls us to also turn away from sin. He cannot look at sin because of the destruction that it brings to our lives. And yet we continue, in many ways, to live in it.

In the book of Joel, God warned the people of Judah that if they didn’t turn from their sin, a drought would occur and locusts would come in swarms and eat their crops.

So, guess what happened? A drought came and swarms of locusts ate everything.

Joel’s job as the prophet was to tell the people of Judah to turn from their sin before the Day of the Lord came! On this day, a great army will come and destroy them all!

The people of Judah didn’t know when this day would come, so they had better repent fast!

Jesus is coming back one day, and we don’t know when that day will come. We need to turn away from our sin quickly just like the people of Judah!

Sin is nasty and gross!

Here are the Conversation Starters for this week:

What is your favorite part about Halloween?

Do some of the costumes or decorations gross you out?

Is it hard to look at them? Why?

God feels this way about sin. Why does God hate sin so much?

Why does sin feel good to us?

What should we do about our sin?

Read Joel 2:13.

Do you think God will forgive our sins?

Scripture tells us that Jesus is coming back. When do you think he is coming back?